Manjhi officially withdraws support from Mahagathbandhan

Patna, June 19 Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday officially withdrew the support of his party from Mahagathbandhan in Bihar.

Manjhi met Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar in Raj Bhawan on Monday and submitted the official letter of withdrawal of the support of his four MLAs from the Mahagathbandhan.

"My party had given support during the formation of Mahagathbandhan... now, we are withdrawing it," Manjhi said.

The relationship between Manjhi and Nitish Kumar went sour after the former Bihar chief minister's son, Santosh Kumar, resigned from the post of Cabinet minister on June 13.

Santosh Kumar alleged that Nitish Kumar had applied pressure on him to merge his party with JD-U or leave the alliance. He had chosen the second option and left the alliance.

While interacting with the mediapersons in Patna, Jitan Ram Manjhi was not looking pleased with Home Minister Amit Shah.

Asked about his Delhi trip, he said: "Amit Shah is not the only leader in the NDA, it may be possible to meet other leaders too. I will also try to meet Congress' top brass Rahul Gandhi, BSP chief Mayawati and others."

Manjhi also said that he and his son Santosh Kumar would stay in Delhi for 3-4 days to meet leaders. He also said that he has health issues as well.

Earlier, Santosh Kumar Suman, the national president of Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) said: "We held the national executive committee meeting and we have all the options open for it. We will set out issues in the next three to four days, then announce our party's approach publicly."

ajk/pgh